Heartbroken after the passing of their dog, Emily, John and Donna were dogless for the first time in 38 years!
“We can’t live without dogs - just can’t, we had to get another dog ASAP,” admitted Donna.
An hour’s drive south at a pet shelter, she located a dog needing a forever home that resembled Emily, except this Dachshund/Beagle cross, Gracie, had floppy ears.
“The dog was shy and standoffish, but we wanted her, especially since her adoption profile read, ‘she loves other dogs, cats and children,” said Donna. “Could it be more perfect!?’”
Two days later, “Gracie” was spayed; and as John walked her to the car, they noticed that life with Gracie may be a tad different than it had been with Emily. Gracie jumped behind the driver’s seat and wouldn’t budge. Donna sat in the back seat consoling their new pound pup.
Donna surmised, “If I hugged her for the hour’s drive home, then maybe she’ll feel safe and relax. But the scared dog did not respond as planned.”
When they arrived home, John and Donna discovered that their new dog behaved more like a cat than a dog as it leaped onto their furniture just like a cat. It had other cat like behaviors so they assumed that it was raised by cats. Which may explain her next behavior.
Excited to walk their new dog, they put a harness on Gracie and proudly led her around the neighborhood.
“Things did not go well,” said Donna.
They discovered that the dog who was supposed to be as peaceful as Gandhi did not like other dogs - at all!
“She hated dogs; big ones, small ones, every dog she met,” said Donna.
They promptly signed Gracie up for doggy obedience classes and, in the meantime, amended their walking behavior to meet her limitations.
“Well, her obedience classes did not go well either,” reported Donna. “After three exhausting lessons we decided to just keep her away from other dogs. We even thought of contacting TV’s famous dog trainer, Cesar Millan, because when a dog approached, we had to reverse directions, pulling her down the road barking. It was like hanging onto a heavy log as it rolled down a hill. Walking a crazed 50-pound dog is exhausting! Gracie was teaching us that at four years of age, ‘You can’t
teach an old dog new tricks!’ Maybe her cat mentality made her hate dogs? Another mystery!”
All Donna knew about her dog’s background was that she was found on the streets after delivering numerous litters of puppies. The canine mother’s face has scars from previous dog encounters while fending for their lives.
“We love and accept Gracie for the way she is and work around her PTSD and separation anxiety,” said Donna. “If she doesn’t see me, she panics and like most mothers, I have not been to the bathroom alone since her adoption. She is an affectionate dog, who absolutely adores us and her two kitty siblings, Lily and Fiesta. She loves attention and people giving her pats, belly rubs and she snuggles with the cats.”
In the five years that Gracie has kept Donna and John on their toes, she is slowly getting used to other dogs and has a few dog friends. Their house sitter, Alice (of the famous Buddy rescue article) brings Buddy with her and the dogs are best pals.
“We are dedicated dog lovers and, in our home, ‘the dog always wins!’” said Donna. “We will never know what shaped her before she arrived. We’ve learned to read Gracie’s body language. We adopted her for life. We were her hope, and her love for us overrides any negative aspects. She is goofy, weird, makes us laugh, is a good guard dog and she has a home that dearly loves her.”
